§ Mr. Bowles (by Private Notice)asked the Secretary of State for the Home De 830 partment whether he has received a report of the inquiry by Lord Justice Tucker into the proceedings at a case heard by Justices of the Gilling East Division of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and whether he can make any statement in the matter.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr, Ede)Yes, Sir. The Report has been received, and the Lord Chancellor and I have decided to present it to Parliament. Copies will be available in the Vote Office today. I understand that Mr. Steavenson, the Chairman of the Gilling East Bench, has tendered his resignation from the Commission of the Peace to the Lord Chancellor, and that his resignation has been accepted. Copies of the Report have been sent to all the justices concerned by the Lord Chancellor, who is considering the position of Mr. Cail, but has decided that no further action need be taken as regards the other justices. A copy has also been sent to the Clerk to the Justices, and I have decided that no further action is required so far as the Clerk is concerned.
§ Mr. BowlesIs the right hon. Gentleman satisfied—though, of course, we have not seen the Report yet—that the acceptance of the resignation of the Chairman of the Bench is sufficient punishment for what is a very serious breach of his duties as a justice of the peace?
§ Mr. EdeThat is a matter for which my Noble Friend the Lord Chancellor is responsible. But I should have thought that the tendering of his resignation, by a man who had served 26 years on the Bench and had been Chairman for lo years, as a result of an inquiry and a Report, was, in itself, a very terrific punishment.
§ Mr. EdeThere was a full report in the Press at the time the inquiry was held, and I do not think the comment I made—